Another historic stone marker vanishes from Selmun

Another historic stone marker, located next to Fort Campbell in Selmun, has suddenly vanished, leaving authorities at a complete loss as to what happened to the artefact.

Activist Conrad Neil Gatt raised the alarm, reporting that the marker, in place for decades, was missing.

Raising the issue in parliament, PN MP Julie Zahra asked the Culture Minister whether the marker, dating back to the presence of the British in Malta, has been removed temporarily due to ongoing infrastructural works in the area by Infrastructure Malta.

However, similar to a recent incident related to another stone marker, Minister Owen Bonnici stated that he had no idea where the stone marker was located, and the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage, responsible for protecting Malta’s cultural and historical heritage, launched an investigation.

According to the Minister, since the disappearance of another stone marker a few years ago – a Victorian-era marker later found next to the pool of Minister Anton Refalo’s private residence in Gozo – the Superintendence is working on a national inventory to mark the few stone markers still in existence across the island.

It is not being excluded that the latest missing stone marker was stolen by some private collector – a crime punishable by hefty fines and possible imprisonment.

Speaking to The Shift, Conrad Neil Gatt said that the marker was still in place until last September. He said the artefact was a British-era War Department marker delineating a military area.

Historic stone markers hit the headlines in 2022 when The Shift revealed that a significant Victorian-era marker was located illegally inside Minister Anton Refalo’s villa in Qala.

The discovery was coincidental as the historic artefact appeared in the background of a birthday party picture posted online by the Minister’s son.

Minister Refalo never explained how the protected artefact ended up inside his villa, where he got it from, and who had restored it and carried it to his home.

Following pressure and an inspection by the Superintendent, which confirmed that the Minister had protected national heritage in his possession, Minister Refalo stated that he had returned the marker to the authorities.

Neither the police nor Prime Minister Robert Abela ever took any criminal or political action against the Minister caught red-handed.